NON-CONTACT CHARGING SYSTEM AND PAIRING METHOD FOR NON-CONTACT CHARGING SYSTEM

• US 20160297314A1
• Filed: 09/03/2014
• Published: 10/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: INOUE, Junji, IWAI, Atsushi
• Granted Patent: US 10,688,875 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/36 by positioning the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/39 with position-responsive activation of primary coils
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/68 Off-site monitoring or control, e.g. remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/40 using two or more transmitting or receiving devices H02J50/50 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/12 : Remote or cooperative charging
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 : Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

A plurality of power transmitters (31) in this non-contact charging system each supply electric power in a noncontact manner to devices to be charged (20). A communication section (12) is configured to be capable of acquiring information transmitted from each device to be charged. A power supply control section (11) controls, on a per-power-transmission-unit basis, the electric power to be transmitted by each power transmitter. The presence of a device to be charged is detected, and in response to the detection of the presence of the device to be charged, the power supply control section sets, to a specific pattern, the pattern of electric power to be transmitted from the power transmission unit. The specific pattern differs for every power transmission unit. The communication section receives information about a specific pattern as transmitted from the device to be charged. The device to be charged acquires the specific pattern from the received electric power. The power transmission unit and the device to be charged corresponding to the power transmission unit form a combination. The power supply control section identifies the combination between the power transmission unit and the device to be charged based on correspondence between information about the specific pattern that has been set, and the received information about the specific pattern.

Claims

1. A non-contact charging system comprising a plurality of power transmitters, a communication section, and a power supply control section, wherein

the power transmitters are configured to supply electric power to a device to be charged in a noncontact manner,

the communication section is configured to be capable of obtaining information transmitted from the device to be charged,

the power supply control section is configured to control electric power transmitted by the power transmitters for each power transmitter,

the existence of the device to be charged is detected,

the power supply control section is configured to set a specific pattern as a pattern of electric power transmitted from each power transmitter in response to detection of the existence of the device to be charged, and the specific pattern varies from one power transmitter to another,

the communication section is configured to receive information about the specific pattern transmitted from the device to be charged, and the device to be charged is configured to obtain the specific pattern from the received electric power,

each power transmitter and the device to be charged corresponding to the power transmitter configure a combination, and

the power supply control section is configured to identify the combination of each power transmitter and the device to be charged corresponding to the power transmitter based on correspondence between the information about the specific pattern that has been set and the information about the specific pattern that has been received.

2. The non-contact charging system according to claim 1, wherein

the device to be charged is provided on a vehicle, and the vehicle includes a power receiver,

the power supply control section includes a first section, which sets, to the specific pattern, the pattern of electric power to be transmitted from each power transmitter, the specific pattern varies from one power transmitter to another,

the power supply control section is configured to include, in addition to the first section, which sets the specific pattern, a second section, which sets, to an alignment pattern, the pattern of the electric power to be transmitted from each power transmitter, and

the alignment pattern is used to align the power receiver of the vehicle with respect to each power transmitter.

3. The non-contact charging system according to claim 2, wherein the alignment pattern is a pattern different from the specific pattern.

4. The non-contact charging system according to claim 2, wherein the power supply control section is configured to identify the combination of each power transmitter and the device to be charged when alignment of the power receiver of the vehicle with respect to the power transmitter ends.

5. The non-contact charging system according to claim 4, wherein

an electrical change occurs in each power transmitter, and

the power supply control section is configured to detect an end of the alignment based on the electrical change that occurs in each power transmitter.

6. The non-contact charging system according to claim 1, wherein

each power transmitter is configured to transmit electric power having the set specific pattern during an output period, and

the power supply control section is configured to transmit electric power having the set specific pattern from each of the power transmitters such that there is a timing at which the output periods from the power transmitters at least partially overlap one another.

7. The non-contact charging system according to claim 1, wherein

the specific pattern is expressed by a pulse generated by a pulse change of electric power, and

the information about the specific pattern includes information about a property of the pulse detected from the specific pattern.

8. The non-contact charging system according to claim 7, wherein the information about the property of the pulse of the electric power is expressed by a pulse width of the pulse.

9. ) The non-contact charging system according to claim 1, wherein the specific pattern is a pattern configured by only one pulse.

10. A non-contact charging system comprising a power receiver, wherein

the power receiver is configured to receive electric power transmitted from a power transmitter in a noncontact manner,

the power receiver is further configured to supply the received electric power to a device to be charged,

the power transmitter is configured to transmit electric power in accordance with a specific pattern set by a power supply control section,

the device to be charged is configured to receive electric power from the power receiver,

the device to be charged includes:

a pattern information obtaining section configured to obtain information about the specific pattern from electric power received from the power receiver; and

a communication section configured to transmit the obtained information about the specific pattern to the power supply control section.

11. A non-contact charging system comprising a device to be charged, a power supply control section, and a plurality of power transmitters, wherein

the device to be charged includes a power receiver configured to receive electric power for charging a storage battery and a communication section configured to be capable of communicating with an external device,

the power supply control section includes a communication section configured to be capable of intercommunicating with the device to be charged,

each power transmitter is configured to transmit electric power to the device to be charged in a noncontact manner,

each power transmitter is configured such that the power supply control section controls electric power transmitted from the power transmitter,

the existence of the device to be charged is detected,

the power supply control section is configured to transmit electric power having a specific pattern from each power transmitter in response to detection of the existence of the device to be charged, and the specific pattern differs from one power transmitter to another, and

the device to be charged is configured to receive electric power from the associated power transmitter via the power receiver,

the device to be charged is configured to transmit information about the specific pattern of the obtained electric power to the power supply control section via the communication section,

the power supply control section is configured to identify a combination of each power transmitter and the device to be charged, and

the power supply control section is configured to identify the combination of each power transmitter and the device to be charged based on correspondence between the information about the specific pattern that has been set and the information about the specific pattern that has been transmitted.

12. A pairing method used in a non-contact charging system, the non-contact charging system comprising:

a plurality of power transmitters configured to supply electric power to a device to be charged in a noncontact manner;

a communication section configured to be capable of obtaining information transmitted from the device to be charged; and

a power supply control section configured to control electric power transmitted from the power transmitters for each power transmitter, wherein

the existence of the device to be charged is detected,

the pairing method comprising;

setting a pattern of electric power to be transmitted from each power transmitter to a specific pattern by the power supply control section in response to detection of the existence of the device to be charged, wherein the specific pattern differs from one power transmitter to another;

receiving information about the specific pattern transmitted from the device to be charged by the communication section, wherein the device to be charged obtains the information about the specific pattern from the received electric power; and

determining a combination of each power transmitter and the device to be charged corresponding to the power transmitter by the power supply control section, wherein the power supply control section identifies the combination of each power transmitter and the device to be charged based on correspondence between the information about the specific pattern that has been set and the information about the specific pattern that has been received.

13. A pairing method used in a non-contact charging system, wherein

the non-contact charging system includes a power receiver configured to receive electric power transmitted from a power transmitter in a noncontact manner, and the power transmitter is configured to transmit electric power in accordance with a specific pattern set by a power supply control section, the power receiver is configured to supply the received electric power to a device to be charged,

the pairing method comprising:

obtaining, by the device to be charged, information about the specific pattern from electric power received from the power receiver; and

transmitting the obtained information about the specific pattern to the power supply control section.